my worst injury

john of dailymile said that today is the day we're all supposed to share our worst injury stories, so here is mine.

not too many years ago, the highway dept was repaving the highway through town. at the time i was often riding early in the morning with headlights while it was still dark. it was cooler then and the wind was less violent.

the lines had not yet been painted along the edges of the road and beside the hardened surface, the crews had dumped extra asphalt which was not compacted.

so one morning, riding at high speeds, i cut the corner from the highway onto my street. because i could not see the line between the hard and soft surfaces, my front wheel hit the loose asphalt and i went sliding. i slid clear across the street and hit the curb on the opposite side. my shoulder and knee were shredded. my bike was okay. all it lost was a front reflector. my derailleur was spared since it was on the top side during the slide.

i lay on the street for a few seconds. some nearby joggers asked if i was okay. i stood in response to their question, righted my bike and slowly rode home. a friend who was an EMT at the time saw the wounds a little later that morning and dressed them properly.